Laser Doppler anemometry measurements in the near-wake of an isolated Formula One wheel

An experimental investigation was conducted to identify the main structures in the near wake of an isolated Formula One wheel rotating in ground contact. A 50 percent-scale isolated wheel assembly, geometrically similar to the configuration mounted on a Formula One racing car, was tested in a closed-return three-quarter open-jet wind tunnel. The test Reynolds number, based on wheel diameter was 6.8 x 10(5). Using laser doppler anemometry, three velocity components were measured with a total of 1966 data points across four planes and within one diameter downstream of the wheel axis. Based on analysis of these data, the main characteristics of the near-wake of an isolated wheel rotating in ground contact are presented. A revised model of the trailing vortex system induced in the wake of such a wheel is proposed, which clarifies the contradictory ones published in the literature to date.